Circle named ambassadors for Fender Music Foundation

Sydney-based indie-pop connoisseurs Circle have been announced as band ambassadors for the upcoming Fender Music Foundation campaign.

Circle’s film clip for their upcoming single All The People is set to become a showcase piece for the next phase of the organisations campaign to run later this year. Humanitarian undertones in the song echo the nature of the charity’s work, striking a chord with The Fender Music Foundation’s Executive Director, Moriah Scoble.

“Circle’s video is a beautiful story about the universal power that music has over people,” said Scoble. “The teachers who have received instruments from our organisation often report back to me of this, how music has given their students a place to belong and a way for their students to learn to better communicate with their peers.”

The purpose of the initiative is to support programs that uphold the integrity of music education, primarily in schools, by providing them with musical instruments.

The Fender Music Foundation has reached over 150,000 people since 2005. The guitars used in OK Go’s recent music video, which went viral, raised a significant sum for the charity. Circle is hoping their efforts will do the same.

Liz Green - O Devotion

It seems fitting that singer/songwriter Liz Green recorded her debut album O Devotion within the urban confines of East London's Hackney, a gritty borough notorious for housing some of London's moodier bands. Hailing from Northern UK, Green should be no stranger to this, for Manchester is a city championed for creating pop music's finest broodier moments.

However musically similar these environments though, I suspect moodiness is not entirely what Green should be seeking. O Devotion carries quite a heavy burden. To listen to it in its entirety requires a sturdy spirit, or perhaps an aged whiskey will get you through, as it is laden with saddened characters and tales of woe. None so evident as in closing track Gallows, "They'll take you to the gallows at nine o'clock sharp... I always knew you'd bring me down".

As well as lyrically, a lot of the tension is surely provided by the instrumentation, french horns and tubulars drag their heavy feet underneath an already grim soundtrack without always needing to be there. For this reason, part of me can't help but feel slightly misled. See, I don't at all doubt the authenticity of Liz Green as an artist. Her live performances are rumoured to be full of fairytales and puppetry, her personality, apparently, intriguing enough to rival that of folk magician Joanna Newsom, but the issue really is that I just don't think the songs themselves are as strong as her identity. Her voice, which has been likened to that of legend Billie Holliday, does bare some resemblance, but really, only in that it permanently floats in a lower register. There isn't nearly enough versatility to carry you through an entire album.

Unlike folk/blues contemporaries Allela Diane or Cat Power, who manage to craft albums which effortlessly weave inspired lyrics and melodies, Liz Green's O Devotion is an album strong on ideas, yet weak on melodies and song structures. Save for a sullen day with that aged bottle of Macallan.

Review by Golden Lady

The xx at The Metro Theatre, Sydney

The XX returned to Australia last week and treated those lucky enough to snap up a ticket to a performance at the Metro theatre in Sydney. Support act, Flume started the show and, despite having quite a bit of airplay and gaining popularity with awesome mixes of Hilltop Hoods and Ta-Ku, did not seem to draw in a crowd, as people seemed unable to tear themselves away from the lure of vodka Red Bulls at the foyer bar.

The headlining trio, Romy Madley-Croft, Oliver Sim and Jamie Smith, took to stage (twenty minutes late) in a haze of smoke, and began the set with Angels, the first single from the soon-to-be-released album, Coexist. Usually I generally dislike bands showcasing new material at gigs, due to unfamiliarity, but Angels, despite only being released to the world a fortnight ago, still had the majority of the audience joining in and singing the chorus. The band took songs from their solid self-titled debut which excited fans, including Heart Skipped a Beat and Basic Space. These slower-paced numbers were pleasing singalong tunes, but the faster, more textural, pulsating tracks induced more of a reaction. Midway through the set the band played new material from the forthcoming album, this instrumental number had a club dance-floor vibe and seemed as though it were influenced by the steel-drum driven Far Nearer taken from Jamie’s solo album. It was an attack on the senses, blasting beats and smoke machines, with lazer beams scattering over the crowd as a projected psychedelic visual danced across the screen and spilled onto the band as they worked harmoniously to make the sounds. Another standout track was Infinity, a duet that reeked of passion and sex, with the transition of each singer, the pace fastened, the lights projected over the stage as Romy sang, “I can’t give it up to someone else’s touch” finishing with a climatic ending of blaring noise and light flooding the stage.

For an electronic driven outfit, the sensuality and the organic nature of the vocals of both Romy and Oliver is bound effortlessly with the precise drum machine beats and computer samples. Both strong vocalists project lyrics with delicacy and softness and often have a haunting effect that is woven through the tracks. But, they in no way overshadow the percussion and sounds created live on stage by Jamie, who makes clean, precise accompaniment with various computerised instruments.

I eagerly await the new album Coexist after hearing snippets at their gig. It is set to be released on 11 September.

Review by Carol Bowditch

DJ Vadim to hit up the hip hop party of the summer

The fine folk at Soundcrash are putting on the hip hop party of the season at London's KOKO on the 18th of August. This event will feature some of the UK’s biggest and baddest acts; cats who have made history on the wheels of steel and who leave audiences slack jawed, sore and wanting more with nothing but  two turntables, a mixer, and a total mastery of that boom bap thang.

DJ Vadim is amongst the heralded few who can count themselves as true innovators and one of the hardest working men in show business. Never predictable, he rips the rule-book to pieces, unleashing a barrage of killer grooves from genres as varied as hip hop, soul, funk, grime, reggae, trip hop and bass music; he never runs out of ideas. Vadim draws upon several lifetimes’ worth of experience: his project is now approaching its twentieth year and has seen him tour across more than sixty countries and perform over two and a half thousand times.

One of the most highly regarded DJs to ever come out of the UK, DJ Format offers bombastic grooves, catchy basslines and body rocking beats. Never one to rest on his laurels, he’ll brandish the hallmarks of his Simonsound audio-visual set  - a collaborative project between DJ Format and Simon James described by DJ Spinna as “a refreshing mesh of the past, present and the future. It's like Mort Garson rocking shell toe Adidas with fat laces blasting into the galaxy in a funky space ship.”

Joining them is fellow heavyweight and the former DMC Champion Mr Thing, who has established himself equally as an absolute virtuoso behind the wheels and as one of most consistent purveyors of infectious grooves in the UK.

Tickets available from: www.soundcrashmusic.com / www.ticketweb.co.uk

Velvet Two Stripes - Supernatural

So, we know very little about Velvet Two Stripes, except that they are three girls from Switzerland that make "a sort of Kills sounding Rock and Roll."

Things we like: Switzerland, girls, The Kills, rock n roll.

So, yeah, we thought we'd share it with you. If you like what you hear then you can follow the hell out of the band on their Facebook page.

White Arrows interview

Carol Bowditch chatted to lead singer and founder of White Arrows, Mickey Church, ahead of their new album release and upcoming Australian tour with Jinja Safari and Opossom (who she also recently interviewed):

Mickey Church is travelling through El Paso, Texas when we speak. He talks of excitement about his travel to Australia for the first time with his band, and speaks as if it were some distant, strange land, far, far away. “We have no plans,” he says. “We have no itinerary and we have no idea what to expect.”

White Arrows met Kody of Opossom when they toured with Unknown Mortal Orchestra. The band became acquainted with fellow tour-mates, Jinja Safari, they met at a hotel in London. Mickey says they “saw some dudes that looked like musicians and went up to talk to them and they happened to be Jinja Safari, who were coincidently playing the same tour there and were coming over to Australia together. It was a really funny that that happened.”

Dry Land is Not a Myth is their debut release after only a two year lifespan as White Arrows. Mickey said its creation was, “an interesting process, [there's] nothing really to compare it to since it's our first record, but it’s exciting that it's finally out. I’m thrilled at how it’s turned out. We just had one 7” and one EP before, so it’s nice to have something substantial out.” He continued, “We start with music with no lyrics in mind, sometimes we don’t ever use it. There can be a theme before the song exists, usually the lyrics come after the song.”

The White Arrows' sound had been described as psycho-tropical and borrows from many genres. For instance, Coming or Going has a dance vibe too it, whereas Roll Forever is dark and heavy with a grungier feel compared to other songs on the album. Mickey agrees that the White Arrows' sound is difficult to categorise, and encourages listeners to “come up with genres of what they think we sound like. I think that psycho-tropical is a really funny, cool name for a type of music.”

Mickey’s individual story is interesting and is reflected through the impressionistic, sensory nature of his music. He was born blind and only gained his sight at the age of 11. He says that White Arrows aim to create a, “visceral, overload experience. Different genres and different soundscapes. While working in conjunction with visual elements.”

The release of the video for Get Gone reflects just that. It features scenes of the band playing, with heavy filters and trippy visuals layered over the top. Mickey says that he finds the process of creating videos as "fun and easy within this day and age to put together footage of live shows and see how well that goes together with a song." The bands only official video is for the track, Get Gone. "The visuals came after but fit together so perfectly with the song."

I put Mickey on the spot to creatively describe his live show in three words only. "Shoot! That’s a tough question,” he replied. “How about crystallised, euphoric..." then he adds with a laugh.. "fish? [band-member] Ian says hallucination but, maybe: dreams, dreamscape, dreamlike?"

He continues to describe the experience of a White Arrows live show. “We like it to be a total sensory overload, a lot of projections, a lot of strobes, haze and fog. Like a complete sensory takeover. We like people, for that hour, to have a complete uninterrupted experience and whatever happens, happens. Just to be in the moment."

I ask him for any last words from the band. His reply is short and sweet and sums up the White Arrows mentality: “Everybody love everybody and that’s pretty much it."

Interview by Carol Bowditch

Tour dates here.

A Bobbysix mixtape

For The Sake Of The Song vol. I by Neil Martin on Mixcloud

Film/music reviewer Neil Martin came up with the idea of our contributors making a mixtape from time to time, and then sharing it with you guys. A fine idea, we all thought. So, here is the first in what we hope will be a regular thing, courtesy of Neil himself. Enjoy...

1929Indian at The Toff in Melbourne

Ebe Cassidy checked out a very mysterious gig from 1929Indian:

Having arrived at the Toff on a chilly Wednesday night knowing very little about 1929Indian, I left the gig knowing very little more. Mystery was the word of the night. Support Poco la Pax played a set so early I couldn’t say for certain if anyone managed to catch it, they then proceeded to disappear. We arrived to a very nearly empty room, the disco lights twinkling softly over the quiet, tiny audience when gradually bits and pieces 80’s inspired electro pop group 1929Indian began to materialise onstage until all five members were ready to play a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it, six song set.

What recorded comes across as a jaunty, synth-driven sound with really fun nods to 80’s legends like The Cure, live was a somewhat more melancholy experience. Perhaps lacking enthusiasm due to the modest size of the audience - or could it have been the unfamiliar Melbourne chill, 1929Indian's lacklustre set conveyed less about their musical ability and more their desire to be somewhere else (notable exception: a cheerfully smiling keyboardist).

What 1929Indian may have - on this particular night - lacked in eagerness to perform, they certainly made up for in looking the part, all came dressed to impress in dangerously tight denim and a fitting air of dankness. It wasn’t solid moodiness though, Women In Cages, the lead single, proved to be an enjoyable moment, hinting at what the band can do when they… lighten up a bit?

Review by Ebe Cassidy

Skipping Girl Vinegar - Chase The Sun

Check out this excellent video clip. Australian band Skipping Girl Vinegar sent a hobo monkey called Baker to the edge of space, in a low rent spaceship made from foam and gaffa tape. On the morning of Sat 27th November 2011, attached to a giant weather balloon, Baker and the onboard camera soared to 110,000 feet (4 times higher than Mt Everest) capturing the rolling image that is now part of this new film clip. Reaching speeds of over 200kmh and experiencing temperatures as low as -50 degrees, Baker carried an Mp3 player beaming out the new SGV single Chase the Sun and messages to the Universe from the people of Earth.

Skipping Girl Vinegar have played many of Australia's premier festivals including packed shows at Splendour In The Grass, The Falls Festival, Woodford Folk Festival, Sunset Sounds, Pyramid Rock and Port Fairy Folk Festival. SGV have also supported the likes of The Lemonheads, Something for Kate, Shout Out Louds, Missy Higgins, Angus & Julia Stone.

Find out more about the band here.

Band of Horses - Mirage Rock first listen

We were lucky enough to be invited along to the Sony offices yesterday to have a listen to the upcoming album by Band of Horses.

Mirage Rock is their first to be produced by Glyn Johns, who was recently inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and who has worked with the likes of The Beatles, The Who, Bob Dylan, The Clash, Eric Clapton, Led Zeppelin, Rod Stewart and The Rolling Stones. The record was recorded at Sunset Sound studio in LA and follows their third album, 2010's Infinite Arms

On first listen, this fourth offering seems, in places, a little more urgent, insistent and less ethereal than what you're used to. Brilliantly rocky lead single, Knock Knock - which you might have heard on your radio of late - is a decent yardstick for this. Mirage Rock isn't a massive departure though, How To Live sounds very much like, well, Band of Horses, with its heartfelt lyrics, "I really don't have to suffer, I still do it anyway/I'm a diamond in the rough or I'm a dirt clod in the clay/Guess what? I lost my job, it's just my luck." There are lots of nice country elements too, while the whole thing wraps up with some beautiful strings on Everything's Gonna Be Undone

We're looking forward to getting to know the record better. It's due for release in September. You can pre-order it now via iTunes.

Japandroids - Celebration Rock

Neil Martin chances upon one of the albums of the year so far. Maybe:

Teenage angst is overrated. Sometimes the best way to deal with the uncertainties of youth is to accept that your only option is to blaze through those wilderness years with the reckless abandon of someone who is either immortal or doomed to an early grave.  This is what Japandroids second album sounds like.

It opens with these lines: “Long lit up tonight and still drinking/Don't we have anything to live for/Well, of course we do, but until it comes true/We're drinking.” This pretty much sums up the eight tracks and 35 minutes that follow. Short, concise anthems to directionless youth. Songs about staying up all night, sordid sexual encounters, burning the candle at both ends and living without regret. So often these kinds of songs can sound contrived and up being too literary, a trap The Hold Steady often fall into. Japandroids have the urgency that suggests they are writing about their own lives rather than sounding like 30-somethings writing about some romanticised, mythological idea of urban disaffection and young adulthood.

Celebration Rock sounds great all messy, revving guitars that burst into life like the beginning of the greatest night on the town you ever had. Hooligan choruses of “woos” and “oh oh ohs” that bring to mind drunken bar singalongs at 1am. The band sound just that right kind of sloppy, the best kind of sloppy, on the edge of collapse but always just holding it together, like The Replacements at their best.  In fact this is probably the closest thing I have heard recently to that Mats sound. Most bands compared to them sound studied and academic but Japandroids and Celebration Rock capture some of that raw honesty that made The Mats so wonderful. This is absolutely a contender for album of the year but it may be that I burn out on it in a couple of months. Given the subject matter that would perhaps be only fitting.

Review by Neil Martin

The Jungle Giants - She's a Riot

Filmed in one shot, in one room, in one day, the brand new clip from The Jungle Giants plays with the notion of space, position and continuity. Without the help of post production or editing, all the changes you see happened in real time. Members of Team Bobbysix are no strangers to making one-shot, one room, lots-of-people videos, so we were keen to share this fine piece of work with you.

In celebration of their band new single and EP, The Jungle Giants will be hitting the road with Sydney duo, Toucan throughout August.

Tickets are on sale now.
FRI 10 AUG - NORTHCOTE SOCIAL CLUB, MELBOURNE
SAT 11 AUG - JIVE, ADELAIDE
FRI 17 AUG - ELSEWHERE, GOLD COAST
SAT 18 AUG - THE ZOO, BRISBANE
WED 22 AUG - BEACH ROAD HOTEL, BONDI
THU 23 AUG - TRANSIT BAR, CANBERRA
FRI 24 AUG - CAMBRIDGE HOTEL SIDE BAR, NEWCASTLE
SAT 25 AUG - GOODGOD, SYDNEY

She's A Riot is released through Create/Control on Friday, July 27.

Wavves at Hoxton Bar and Kitchen, London

Golden Lady hit London's East End to check out Wavves:

Raucous, loud, sweaty and punky. Wavves are everything you want in a modern day Californian punk rock band.

Friendlier than Fugazi, darker than their musical ancestors, Minor Threat, yet poppier than Jay Reatard, with whom they share former members, they are a fun, clever, scuzzy band who prove throughout the night to be full of healthy contradictions.

A messy start to what continues to feel like a pretty messy show is, nonetheless, engaging and enthralling, largely due to the raw performance of band members and those smart, hooky power punk songs recalling threads of early Nirvana.

Founder and singer of the band, Nathan Williams punches through each track with apparent pride that forgoes any of the nonchalance he assumes between songs. Laughing at his own jokes and complaining about broken strings and bad sound doesn't quite suit the atmosphere, nor the bands reputation. But this doesn't seem to bother the mostly ‘young dude’ crowd who are waiting patiently for the next moment of fuzzed out guitar wattage and noise-inducing disharmony, which preempts nearly every track in the set.

Things are definitely more engaging when the band are playing, pouncing and swallowing up the sonic space with their potent melodies.

Opener King of the Beach remains one of the highlights of the show - a perfect combination of surf, pop-punk and melodic glory. Other tracks Take on the World and Green Eyes are standouts, the latter, with its unaffected lyrics (“My own friends hate me/But I don't give a shit”) and vocal waverings, once again channelling Kurt Cobain. Super Soaker reminds me of Best Coast, or perhaps it’s the other way around, who’s to know?

There are songs in between that tumble into the next without much consideration, my attention wafts in and out, occasionally focusing on a stupendously drunk girl who seems intent on body surfing into a mostly well-behaved crowd. But then the band hit with one of those perfect skuzzed out moments and all is forgiven.

Bruises and all, Wavves are undoubtedly an exciting buzz of a band, reaching for something more than just post teenage tantrums and vague ambition.

Review by Golden Lady. See her own blog here. 

Photo borrowed with a loving kiss from our friends over at Rip It Up.

Getting to Know... Northeast Party House

We grabbed two minutes with Sean from Melbourne's Northeast Party House before their hometown single launch last Friday:

Northeast Party House are five mates, who used to be six mates but three of them left.

We are currently listening to our latest single Pascal Cavalier. We shot the video for it on the weekend so it's been on repeat in our brains.

Our single launch tour will be the most fun we've had since our last tour... "TOUR TOUR TOUR!"

Melbourne is about to be drowned in the sweat of our Corner Hotel crowd!

It might surprise people to learn... this

In the future Snail Zombies rule the world!

You can see Northeast Party House here this weekend:

Friday 20 July 
Goodgod Small Club, Sydney
Supported by Panama and Colour Coding
Tickets on sale now via Moshtix www.moshtix.com.au | 1300 GET TIX

Saturday 21 July
Alhambra Lounge, Brisbane
Supported by The Belligerents and Fairchild Republic
Tickets on sale now via Oztix - www.tickets.oztix.com.au | 1300 762 545

The Shins - It's Only Life

Remember the exact moment when you first fell in love with The Shins? And, before you pretend that you are super indie and took a chance on their debut album after hearing it in a backstreet second-hand record shop in Berlin, we all know that it was watching that bit in Garden State.

Well, while Zach Braff has proved himself to be a bit of a douche in the intervening years, The Shins are still as loveable and brilliant as they ever were. For proof, check the heck out of their new song. It's Only Life might be a little more ruminative than some earlier outings, but it's quite beautiful and boasts a great video clip. So, you know, hooray.

Expatriate interview

Carol Bowditch caught up with from Expatriate after the band's lonnnng period of playing and writing in Europe. We haven’t really heard from the four-piece since their 2007 release, In the Midst of This, so Damian (the chap just to the right of lead-singer Ben's cheek in the above picture) explains what they had been up to.

Tell us what you've been doing for the last few years?
At the end of 2008 we flew over to Germany to release In the Midst of This. We had an English management company and they got us a Warner Brother record deal in Germany, so we went over there and, just as we were about to sign it, the first economic crisis happened. We ended up going with one of Europe’s biggest independent labels called PIAS. We spent a-year-and-a-half touring that album, doing all of the main festivals, like Rock in the Park, all these massive festivals, from Turkey to Greece, Helsinki… We also did about 50 shows with Placebo throughout Europe, so by the end of it we were well and truly sick of the songs. It’s not a good move to put out a record, and a-year-and-a-half after you have done it in Australia, do it over again in Germany. It was a bit like Groundhog Day.

So, we’ve just done our second record that has been sitting on the shelf for about a year, but that’s finally being released. I would like a third album [or] another EP released within October or November. Cause we have so much newer, fresher material.

You played with Placebo around Europe, who would you want to do a tour with in the future?
It depends really, whoever I’m listening to at the time. I really like bands like m83, lots of different stuff really, like The Weeknd and Drake. I have been listening to William Basinski, who does all of this experimental stuff. He’s a bit like Steve Reich, makes this like a sonic landscape, droney, multimedia thing, it’s really different.

How is Hyper/Hearts different from your last few releases like Lovers le Strange and In the Midst of This?
It’s much more over produced. We spent a lot of time in the studio. We tried to make a different record to In the Midst of This, which was very rock, in a way, with lots of guitars. We tried to add a lot more keyboards. It’s a lot more developed and refined in terms of production and stuff.

What is your favourite track on the album?
I would say Dangerous Stranger; it’s just really dark and fucked up, like an early Black Rebel Motorcycle Club sound. A good mix of guitars and synths, I like that. Also, Do You Remember is a good singalong.

Tell me about the two new videos that have recently been released on your blog. Do you enjoy making videos for your songs?
I love making videos, we do them ourselves. Dave our bass player does them and is quite good at it. It’s such a hard thing though, like making music, when it comes together and it works, it’s amazing. I love making video clips and I film, I love that medium. If you can marry those two together, that’s awesome. I don’t think you need a massive budget, it’s all about the idea I guess.

How are you finding playing in Australia after so long?
Brisbane was awesome. It was like an indie rock DJ night. Our record label is up there too. It was an eventful occasion.

I think in a way, people have moved on, like Triple J… After coming back after three years, like, Robbie Buck, who was our biggest advocate and supporter of us, is over at the 702 station, Ha Ha… Nothing wrong with that obviously, it just appears that we haven’t got the same support that we once got.

After talking to Damian, I went along to see the boys play at Sydney's Spectrum. I was reminded of all the festival gigs that I had seen them play years ago as a 16-year-old fangirl of the band. They played a mix of old faves like Play a Part and The Spaces Between, as well as a sample of new material, like aforementioned Do you Remember, along with few other newbies off Hyper/Hearts. They dedicated their song Crazy from In The Midst of This, to all the friends and family that had turned up on the night.


Interview by Carol Bowditch. Hyper / Hearts is out now. 

A Place to Bury Strangers - Worship

Golden Lady gives a listen to the sonic madness of A Place to Bury Strangers: 

There's undoubtedly a formula in creating a shoe gazer's soundtrack. It requires a healthy disregard for your audience, a distant love of Spector-ish pop and an orchestra of distortion and fuzz flattening anything in its path. It's chaotic and insensitive and when made honestly, can be earth-shatteringly beautiful.

A Place to Bury Strangers are indeed no strangers to this. Having toured alongside modern day pioneers, The Brian Jonestown Massacre, BRMC and their own musical heroes The Jesus and Mary Chain, APTBS have had time to focus and hone in on their sound. And in a day and age when bands feel the obligatory urge to switch and change sounds with the fashion, it's always a delight when artists stick to their guns, without so much as a contemplative doubt.

Lucky for this particular band, they capture the enormity of the genre brilliantly. There are moments of real sonic madness. Album opener, Alone, is the closest you'll get to a single, or a pop song, if you will. Dissolved starts off like a lost Interpol track and then moves back into familiar Jesus and Mary Chain territory. The album slides in and out of chaos and beauty. Rage and sadness. Closing track Slide, however, provides the most interesting sonic shift on the album. Edging into electronic territory and ever so fragile, it had me suddenly wishing more tracks had followed in its path. Hopefully an indicator of where they'll head next.

In the meantime, Worship is a claustrophobic, focused and deviant album. It will no doubt inspire those already worshipping at the alter of Shoegazing. However, unsurprisingly, most will find this a little difficult to swallow.

But I can guarantee that isn't in any way a focal point for A Place to Bury Strangers, instead they allow for the power and madness of their music to be appreciated by whomever is brave and open minded enough.

Review by Golden Lady

Getting To Know... House of Shem

House of Shem tell Bobbysix.com about their tours of Australia and the US: 

House of Shem are an all Maori trio of vocalists, song writers and producers, fronted by New Zealand Reggae ambassador Carl Perkins and his two sons Te Omeka and Isaiah Perkins with the best selection of Reggae musicians from New Zealand behind them providing the world with quality Reggae Music.

Our debut headline tour of Australia will be a fun experience. We love the vibe there the people are always happy and skanking when we come there! We are covering WA, VIC, NSW and QLD and we cant waitttt!!

Before then, we are travelling to The States in June to perform at the Sierra Nevada World music festival alongside some of the biggest names in Reggae music and performing for the first time in Hawaii. Hawaii has been waiting for over seven years for us to go there from the time we released I Love U Girl in 2003. Our song Thinking About You was a number 1 hit for a long time on the radio there. We cant wait to share our music and culture with the People of Hawaii!

We're currently listening to our children laughing and playing, also our new album which is sounding so niceeee! Also we are listening to Stevie wonder, The Eagles, Steely Dan, Bob Marley and the Marley Family, Alborosie, Steel Pulse, Big Mountain... the list goes on, but daily we just write and listen to our hearts and minds to create some music for you all.

Auckland is fire inna Babylon city, haha! Some of us are based in West Auckland and it is beautiful out here. You can see a bit of bush and it's nice and quiet because they limited how many alcohol outlets are out here, so even Better.

It might surprise people to learn that we have just recorded a reggae version of a Beatles song, ready to be released on a compilation that is been compiled in Argentina.

House of Shem Australian Tour 

Thurday 12th July - Wanneroo Tavern, Wanneroo WA 
Tickets available from www.oztix.com.au, www.heatseeker.com.au, www.moshtix.com.au, venue and usual outlets. 
Friday 13th July - Eliot St Bar, Bunbury WA
Tickets available from www.oztix.com.au, www.heatseeker.com.au, www.moshtix.com.au, venue and usual outlets. 
Saturday 14th July - Rosemount Hotel, North Perth WA Tickets available from www.oztix.com.au, www.heatseeker.com.au, www.moshtix.com.au, venue and usual outlets. 
Sunday 15th July - Leisure Inn, Rockingham WA Tickets available from www.oztix.com.au, www.heatseeker.com.au, www.moshtix.com.au, venue and usual outlets. 
Thursday 19th July - Kings Beach Tavern, Sunshine Coast QLD Tickets $25+bf from www.oztix.com.au 
Friday 20th July - Coolangatta Hotel, Gold Coast QLD Tickets $30 +bf from www.oztix.com.au Saturday 21st July - The Zoo, Brisbane QLD Tickets $30 +bf from www.oztix.com.au 
Sunday 22nd July - Byron Bay Brewery, Byron Bay NSW Tickets $25 + bf from www.oztix.com
Thursday 26th July - Cambridge Hotel, Newcastle NSW Tickets $30 +bf from www.moshtix.com.au Friday 27th July - The Standard, Sydney NSW Tickets $30 +bf from www.moshtix.com.au & www.eventfinder.com.au 
Saturday 28th July - Deep Roots @ The Espy, Melbourne VIC Tickets from www.oztix.com.au

Deap Vally interview

Golden Lady gets to grips with the latest buzz band from The States:

Deap Vally, a duo hailing from the San Fernando Valley in California, have managed to create a small tidal wave of a buzz within the music industry of late. Visually it’s not hard to see why, they flitter somewhere between Fast Times at Ridgemont High and Dazed and Confused. Musically it’s even more obvious, take a dash of Sabbath, mix with a splash of Heart and a holler of Karen O and you get the very wonderful Deap Vally!

Like all super hyped bands, it usually takes one flame to ignite industry fire, as is happening now. From the creative cliques of LA to the heavy buzz of UK industry, where much revered chronicles such as The Guardian and The Independent have singled the band out as definite ones to watch. Not to mention, pioneers of great hype themselves NME Magazine, boldly labeling them “a hippie Karen O fronting Black Sabbath”.

Speaking with foxy singer Lindsey Troy, one gets the sense that both her and sassy drummer, Julie Edwards, are more than aware of the spell they’re casting. I enquire as to whether getting such a wide array of comparisons is at all overwhelming. “Our influences are so vast, it’s always interesting to hear which of them stick out to people. We're both huge Led Zeppelin fans, so getting that comparison is always exciting.”

Without having so much as released a single yet, they are already filling slots at UK festivals such as Reading, Leeds and Latitude, with a handful of shows in between. Acknowledging the achievement thus far, Lindsey tells me she’s more excited about the festivals than anything. "I love music festivals. I love the sense of community that is created. I can't wait to melt some faces.”

And speaking of community, like so many LA based creative forces, there is a definite sense of artistic fellowship which permeates. You often hear stories of actors helping out fellow musicians or vice versa and their story is no different. Their mascot being none other than indie hero/villain Vincent Gallo, who has been championing the band since their incarnation a little over a year ago, when he contacted them on Myspace to profess his love and support. He is regularly seen cheering them on at shows, where one may have also recently spotted Marilyn Manson heckling them front row ……as you do!

But they definitely take this all in their stride, never hesitating to be equally as supportive and encouraging towards those around them. “We've met a lot of very inspiring people on our journey as a band, and I would definitely say that some of them have impacted our development. For example, we have a good friend whom we met last year, a designer who goes under the name Kittinhawk [her real name is Allysun Maria Dutra], who we have formed a really fruitful creative relationship with. She has designed a number of our staple stage outfits. We all bounce ideas off one another and the end result is always amazing”

Reinforcing this positive spirit is the lyrical content and message you get from Deap Vally’s music. From lead single Gonna Make My Own Money to scorcher End of the World (“there’s no time like the present, so open up our hearts and let love shine in”), one can’t help but feel uplifted and energised. “We're very conscious of the messages we put in our songs” says Lindsey. “They empower and inspire us, and I hope that they have the same effect on others.”

Something tells me this is already happening!

Interview by Golden Lady

Deap Vally release their debut single Gonna Make My Own Money in the UK on July 30th.
Keep up to date with all their goings on at www.facebook.com/deapvally or www.twitter.com/deapvally

Disclosure - Control

The Brits amongst you might already be familiar with Disclosure, (aka brothers Guy and Howard Lawrence, aged 17 and 20 respectively). They have been playlisted by Radio 1 (and considering Radio 1 seems to just play the same half-dozen songs over and over, that's an achievement in itself), been raved about by The Guardian, toured the UK and Europe and supported SBTRKT on his UK tour. If you haven't heard of them, you might be wondering what the fuss is about. Well, check out the above clip to find out. The song showcases the talents of rising British singer Ria Ritchie and is taken from their latest EP, The Face, which looks set to compound Disclosure's growing reputation as the UK’s most exciting new producers.

Blending deep house bass lines, Dilla-esque snares and melodic two-step top lines, The Face illustrates a sonic maturity beyond the brothers' years. And despite its uptempo BPM, it’s a sound that Disclosure insist owes as much to ‘90s Hip Hop as it does to Detroit House and UK Garage.
The boys are currently working towards a much-anticipated debut album. Keep up to date with them on Facebook.